The Elks National Foundation (ENF) in the United States offers college scholarships which provide $3.74 million annually through three different programs:
The Most Valuable Student Scholarship
The Legacy Award
The Emergency Educational Grant.
Review Scholarship Guidelines.
Most Valuable Student Scholarships
The ENF created the Most Valuable Student Scholarship to increase high school seniors’ access to higher education, recognize their outstanding scholastic and leadership records and decrease the amount of debt they incur.
The ENF awarded its first Most Valuable Student Scholarships in 1933 to two students. Each student received $1,000.
The award steadily grew larger, and, starting in 1983, the Elks National Foundation began awarding a total of 500 Most Valuable Student awards annually. These awards are issued over four years. Initially, there were 11 levels of awards that ranged from a maximum of $20,000 to a minimum of $4,400 over four years. Today, the top awards range from $20,000 to $50,000 over four years.
This award is open to all high school seniors who are citizens of the United States, regardless of Elks affiliation, and plan to pursue a four-year degree in a U.S. American college or university.
Legacy Award
The Elks National Foundation awards 250 Legacy scholarships to exceptional high school seniors who are children or grandchildren of active Elks members. These awards are worth $4,000 and are distributed over four years. These scholars exhibit the core values of the Elks National Foundation: Knowledge, Charity, Community and Integrity.
This award is open to any high school senior whose parent or grandparent has been an Elk in good standing for at least two years, who has a household income of $93,000 or less and who plans to pursue a four-year degree in a U.S. American college or university.
Emergency Educational Grant
In 1944, the ENF established this program to aid the children of Elks members who lost their lives or became incapacitated as a result of serving in the armed forces during World War II. Since then, the program has expanded to make all children of deceased or totally disabled Elks eligible for an Emergency Educational Grant to help them obtain a college degree.
The Emergency Educational Grant provides college financial assistance to children of deceased or totally disabled Elks. These one year grants range up to $4,000, and are renewable up to three times.
To qualify for an Emergency Educational Grant, a student must be a full time undergraduate attending an accredited U.S. college or university, and must demonstrate financial need. Students must also be unmarried and under the age of 23 at the time of application.